A Force More Formidable Than Any Other
by grace.em
Summary: A year after graduating from Hogwarts, Lily Evans finds herself loving her home in a muggle neighborhood. Her neighbors up and move away and an attractive, dark-haired, young wizard moves in. One she knows all too well. Him and his three best friends turn Lily's comfortable, quiet life upside down and drive her crazy at every corner. She's quickly finding that she loves it. AU.
1. An average morning

Okay. This is my first ever multi chapter fic in the Harry Potter fandom. It's definitely my first ever Lily and James story. I'm really nervous so any response is good. Whether you loved it or not, I'd love to know. Huuuuuuuuge shout out to my beta, TheSummerNightingale, what a beautiful creation she is. Honestly, this story would never have made it to the site without her.

enjoy.

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It was a regular day like any other: Lily woke up, brewed some coffee, and went to sit on her front porch. This was her favorite time of the day - the air smelled clean, the grass was covered in dew, it was quiet. Of course, soon the street would be all a flurry of activity. The pregnant woman down the road, Rose, would go for a stroll with her petite lap dog. Her next door neighbor, Melinda, who was about seventy-two would come outside soon and shuffle to the end of her driveway to get her mail and then stare at her lawn for longer than necessary. After that she'd wander aimlessly through her yard, mail in hand, and comment on the color of the grass. Yesterday it was too dark of a green; the day before that it was practically brown. The garbage truck would come down the street and noisily empty plastic, green containers into the back of their powder blue truck. There would be cars driving to work and a few just getting home from wherever they had been prior to the rest of the city waking up.

Lily would watch as her other next door neighbors, the ones who always kept their blinds shut, opened their front door and peeked their head out in a conspiring way. When she first moved in, Lily went to meet them but they never came to the door, even though she saw them pull back the blinds for a moment. Whenever they left the house, they were always already in their car as the garage opened. And they never had visitors.

Every morning, one of them would speed walk to their mailbox to get the mail, and, depending on the day, they would grab their trash can, and practically run back to their house. Eventually they would let their demon dog from hell out into their back yard and it wouldn't stop barking for hours and hours on end. But nowadays, it never made a peep. Lily smiled behind her coffee mug at the thought. She could hardly get any work done in the house, and she definitely couldn't get any done in her yard when it was making all that noise. So she had taken a few liberties with her wand, and the dog hadn't made a peep since.

That was part of the reason her back yard looked a fright. The other parts were that she didn't much care for yard work and she couldn't use any magic on it during the day where people could see.

She heard a dog bark with a deep tone and she ripped her head up at the sound. Right across the street from her was a black dog about half of her size. It seemed to be staring right at her. At first she wondered if she should go look on its collar for a number to call, but she decided against it because it was a pretty large dog.

The dog's gaze shifted from her to her neighbors house in a quick motion. Lily felt herself lean forward as she looked to her left. Her neighbors were peeking through their door frame sooner than usual. In one swift motion, the man ran into the middle of the yard - off his normal sprint path to the mailbox - and stuck a sign into the ground. He then proceeded to walk swiftly to the mailbox but found it empty, seeing as the mailman hadn't come yet.

When he had slammed the door shut, and she was sure he had locked it and gone back into hiding, Lily stood up and walked down her front porch steps. The sign read "For Sale". She felt herself chuckling and thinking about how her morning routine would most likely change after they moved.

The black dog was approaching the sign and staring at it. She had never seen a dog act so unlike a dog before, it seemed so intelligent. It was right up on the sign now, it sniffed it for a moment before ripping its eyes back to her. Lily was slightly startled and frowned in confusion. _What a strange animal_, she thought.

After she sat back down on her porch swing, the morning proceeded - mostly - as expected. With the exception of a large moving truck backing all the way up to her neighbor's garage and covering the opening so she couldn't see in and their dog never being let into the back yard, it went normally.

Lily waved at Rose as she started to approach her porch, belly protruding. "You're gettin' big. How much longer do you have?" Lily asked kindly as she met the woman at her steps.

Rose patted her stomach and smiled down at it before answering. "Only two weeks. I'm getting antsy. I know John is ready for my pregnant hormones to go away. But I have a feeling there will be a whole different set once I'm sleep deprived from this little booger." She laughed loudly and unattractively but Lily felt herself smiling anyway. "Oh hey, you didn't by any chance see a black dog around here, did you? It dug up my flower bed and I have no idea who owns it!"

Lily chuckled quietly, thinking, _Muggles_. If only Rose knew that there were so many other concerns bigger than a few ruined daffodils.

"You know, I saw it across the street not even an hour ago. It was sniffing around their yard," Lily gestured to her left, "and then it just ran off. Strange dog though, I felt like it was smarter than we give dogs credit for, if that makes any sense." Lily mused quietly.

Rose seemed horrified at the thought. "Smart? It tore up my entire flower bed. Lily, if this dog was smart, it wouldn't have done that." She giggled frustratedly after her short rant and then shook her head. "Well anyway. I'm off. I've got some yard work to get done. I'd ask for your help, but you don't seem to fancy it, so..." She left her sentence hang with a good natured smile. When Lily nodded, the pregnant woman spun around and began speed walking away with her arms swinging as if she was jogging.

As Mrs. Melinda came out and noticed how pale of a green her grass was, Lily made her way inside. She set her coffee mug into her empty, save for the spoon she used to stir her cream with, sink and walked over to where her table was. She had received a letter from Remus, an old friend from Hogwarts, yesterday and hadn't had the time to read it yet.

He had sent her a housewarming present when she had first moved in of several candles that never burned down and wouldn't go out unless the person who cast the spell to light them blew them out. It was a welcome surprise when she lit them for the first time, and they smelled just like her favorite bath salts from Hogwarts. It was a smell she wasn't able to take with her or find elsewhere, as the house elves made the salts themselves.

When she had told Remus that she had moved into a Muggle house about half an hour outside of London, he had confessed that he wasn't surprised. As she thought back on her Hogwarts days, for a moment, she briefly wondered why she hadn't dated Remus. He was funny, smart and kind. He had magic and wasn't hard on the eyes. But then, all at once, she remembered exactly why. As the Head Girl, she couldn't have dated one of the four boys who caused the school the most trouble, even if he was a prefect. It would have sent a mixed message to the rest of the students. Reaching forward, Lily snagged the piece of parchment off her wooden table and broke the seal.

He always began his letters with the same thing:

_Everything is fine here, how are you Lily?_

_I'm glad you liked the candles, I wanted to give_  
_you a little something to remind you of the good_  
_times. I can't believe that sweet ole Lily Evans_  
_used magic in the Muggle world simply because_  
_she was annoyed by a small dog. If you were_  
_willing and capable of that, why not have just_  
_silenced the Marauders back in school? I'm_  
_sure we did enough to warrant that treatment._  
_If you're a journalist, why not work for The Daily_  
_Prophet? It would be a nice change of pace from_  
_Rita Skeeter. I'm glad to hear you've settled in  
nicely, and __if you'd have me I'd love to come and  
see __where __you live. Maybe the whole lot of us  
could __drop by. I know you have a soft spot for  
Peter __and I, so if you can just get past James and  
__Sirius, I think it would be quite enjoyable. As for  
__me, __I'm bouncing around here and there with  
work. __The ministry won't hire me full time  
because of my __condition, but Dumbledore still  
contacts me on __occasion __when Hogwarts needs  
someone for the DADA class. __Did you hear that  
Severus got the job after he __graduated? I find it  
quite fitting, he was always slightly __dark, no?  
Well, I hope this letter finds you __well._

_Until next time,  
__Remus Lupin_

She scanned the letter, noting a few words and picking up on familiar names. Something stuck out: _"I'm glad to hear you've settled in nicely, and if you'd have me I'd love to come and see where you live."_

Remus wanted to visit? There wasn't anything wrong with that, of course, but she was just shocked. She hadn't ever known him to invite himself to anything. He tended to stick to himself and the shadows.

She smiled as she thought to herself, That boy is magic through and through, he'll be shocked when he realizes I live without it most of the time. And it was true - Lily rarely used magic anymore. She loved it and was quite good at it, but she didn't need it to be a journalist, and it was easier to live as a Muggle if you weren't trying to hide a wand everywhere you went.

That said, Lily didn't go out much. She had made one friend at work: her name was Loyal. They had laughed about what people would say or ask them whenever they introduced themselves: "Is that your favorite flower?" or "Are you? I mean you don't seem like the type to betray..." Loyal was a feisty character, similar to Lily in a lot of ways but so different at the same time.

Lily loved her life, she loved her job, and she loved her home. While it bothered her considerably, Lily would admit she was missing something. She had always wanted to be a wife and a mother. She had adored her parents and their love, and she wanted to give that to a child of her own. But she just didn't feel right about marrying a Muggle; she didn't want to live her entire life as a lie and she didn't want go around blurting out "I'm a witch" to every bloke that caught her eye in hopes that one would accept and embrace it.

When she wrote Remus back, Lily told him that she would absolutely adore a visit from him and that it had been far too long. She noted that they mustn't wait this long next time and asked if he wanted her to prepare anything for his arrival. Right as she was about to roll it up and send it, she added in at the bottom a small note as a joke about her lack of a love life and then her owl was off.

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What did you think? :)


	2. Surprise, surprise

Okay everyone! Chapter two. :) I'll be updating every Friday... This particular chapter is set before the last one, I hope it doesn't confuse anyone.

Thank you all for the sweet reviews and all the support I've already received from this! It's so fun and I had to force myself to exercise some self-control, I wanted so badly to post this yesterday. But I held out! ;) Thank you to my wonderful and supportive beta. She's helped me so much and kept me sane. :) Summer, you rock!

enjoy.

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Remus read and reread what he had written to Lily Evans, it wasn't much and it wasn't very personal. It seemed to lack the air of intimacy he had with her as a friend. He supposed he could just move on and tell her about his work situation but it seemed so crass to be that frank. He tapped his quill on the edge of the bottle of ink and laid it down next to the paper. Just as he slid his hands behind his head and leaned back in his chair, he heard someone enter the house. He didn't bother to move and attempt to see who it might be because there were only a few people who knew of the entrance to the flat. Three of them were his best friends.

"Lupin. It's good to see you in good health." He heard a soft voice admit behind him. That was definitely not one of his best friends. Although he recognized the voice, he couldn't quite place who it belonged to. Dropping his hands into his lap, he turned his head to take in a petite woman from his peripheral vision. Her bubblegum pink hair jogged his memory immediately.

"Why Nymphadora Tonks, as I live and breathe. It has been awhile, has it not?" Remus made to get up without delay at the sight of a woman. She smiled at his chivalry, but dropped it at the recognition of her first name.

"Remus." She regarded him again. "I trust you remember that I don't respond when addressed by that name." Her tone was sweet, but he could tell she was serious.

"Yes, Nymphadora, I do recall that you hold a strange disliking for your given name." _Though I don't know why; I think it's beautiful._ he added silently.

When she huffed delicately and spun around to leave, his chest ached to pull her back and apologize, but it was better this way. Remus began to sit back down as Sirius rounded the corner. "Her hair is red. What'd you do this time?" he inquired as he approached the desk his friend was sitting at. When Remus only shrugged in a noncommittal way, Sirius dropped the topic. He decided instead to investigate the half written letter sprawled out on the desktop. "Who is this you're writing to? Lily? As in the Lovely Lily who absolutely adored me throughout our schooling?" He paused momentarily, seemingly thinking of the next words he should say. "Tell her hello from me, I'm sure she's been craving my attention for the past several months."

While Sirius sounded completely genuine, Remus knew that Lily would not be touched by a greeting from the man. "I shall pass that on. Why is Tonks here?" Straight to the point. Sirius smiled brightly as his cousin slammed something down in the distance of the house and loudly muttered about Remus' refusal to call her Tonks in her presence alone.

"So that's why her hair is red. Remus, you minx, you know you're only riling her up." He let out a hearty laugh and turned to greet whoever was entering their flat next. It turned out to be James Potter, the resident moper. "James, my boy! Come join the fun, my dear cousin is here for a visit and Remus was just finishing up a letter to one Lily Evans." James' head snapped up in recognition. But Sirius had already moved on from James' state of mind. "...fancied me, I believe. Why else does one give so many detentions?" As he finished his sentence, he looked at his two friends. It was clear neither was paying him any attention so he simply walked away.

Remus wisely ignored Sirius' rant of nonsense and instead focused on James' look of distress. All in one swift movement, James had set his things down and made his way over to where Remus was sitting. "Well go on then, finish the letter." he whispered more to himself than anyone else. Remus followed orders and picked his quill back up, dipped it into the ink and began writing. "_I'm glad to hear you've settled in quite nicely._" He picked his hand up off the desk and studied the words in contemplation. What else should he say?

James quickly helped him to decide by insisting they visit. "Ask if we can come see her. I mean see her new place. I want to see her. I want to see where she's living." His voice sounded forced and when Remus looked up at his friend he could see that all the previous vulnerability and nervousness were being hidden by a mask. He smiled bitterly at the idea. He had been under the impression that James had moved past his infatuation of Lily Evans. That didn't seem like it was true though, as his friend was clearly showing how nervous he was, by clenching and unclenching his fists.

Remus did as he was told and invited all of them over. It wasn't something he would typically do, but he was genuinely curious about Lily's new place of residence. He had the address and the apparating coordinates, but he hadn't ever gone. He felt it was now appropriate to tell her of his work and when he finished the letter, he signed it and looked up at James. He had a far off look on his face and he was chewing on his thumb nail nervously.

Remus cleared his throat but James didn't ever look away from the paper. "James." His eyes snapped over to meet Remus's. "Maybe we should go check on Sirius and Tonks, you know how he likes to frustrate her." He watched as his friend only nodded numbly and began to shuffle away.

Ever since the last few months of their seventh year at Hogwarts, James had been perpetually moping. Lily had begun to act differently as well and it concerned Remus. He couldn't figure out what had happened, but it only served to strengthen James' feelings toward Lily and lessen hers toward him. Remus stood up and followed James' depressing scuffle down the hallway into the kitchen.

Tonks and Sirius were whispering heatedly, so Remus lunged forward and stopped James from making their presence known.

"He's only doing it to protect you, Tonks. Give the man a break. He has feelings for you that he doesn't think he can act on because of his furry little problem." He was using a rare tone, one that meant he was being deadly serious.

"I know. But I'm a big girl, and I can take care of myself. I'm not asking to bleed in front of him during a full moon. I'm asking for a date, a relationship," Tonks whispered. It was clear she was frustrated. "What's it gonna take? Maybe I'll strip down and walk around naked. That may get his attention."

Sirius chuckled lightly. "That could work. James won't glance twice at you because you have the figure of a twelve year old boy and you're not Lovely Lily. I'm related to you, so that's a no-go. Peter's not a real man," he joked. " So Remus is the only one left and he hasn't been touched by a woman since, well, ever."

It was obvious James had heard enough because he shoved Remus' hand off his arm and walked through the doorway. Neither cousin looked embarrassed or even slightly guilty. Tonks wore a small frown, most likely from Sirius' comment about her body. James grabbed a glass of water and left the kitchen promptly, and Sirius announced that he was going to pop in on Lily's house again in dog form and that he would be back later. As his body left the kitchen, it was replaced with an awkward silence.

Tonks wasn't happy, Remus was overwhelmed. It wasn't an ideal situation, so Remus did the first thing that came to mind, damn what he would think later. "You don't have the figure of a twelve year old. You are a very beautiful woman, Nymphadora." When she looked up at him with shocked eyes and a small smile, he cleared his throat and left the room to send his owl to Lily. Hopefully it wasn't too early for her.

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So there's that... Thanks for reading!


	3. Baggage

Ah! My lovely readers, I'm sorry to have neglected you all today. Please-please, I beg you, forgive me. Here's the next chapter. I had a wonderful person message me politely wondering why I hadn't updated. Busy-busy day in my house! Again, I implore you, forgive me.

enjoy.

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Sirius Black had been stopping by Lily's house for the last several days and she hadn't noticed him until yesterday. She had looked right at him. He almost hesitated when he saw her, for it was the first time in almost a year. She looked good. She looked healthy. Her hair was longer and she seemed like she had grown into more of a womanly figure. Sirius smiled to himself as he thought back on yesterday's adventure.

Just as Sirius was about to get up from his kitchen table, he heard Remus speaking softly to someone from the next room. Of course he could guess who it was, but he strained his ears anyway. He narrowed his eyes as if it would help him hear better, but it wasn't making a difference.

Finally he stood up as quietly as possible and made his way over to the door frame. "...I just can't." He heard Remus finish.

"And why not? I demand an answer. Don't give me any of that werewolf crap, Remus. It doesn't mean anything to me." Nymphadora Tonks was a brilliant friend, but you didn't want to be on the other side of the tone she was currently sporting.

"Nymphadora," -She huffed quietly, no doubt at the sound of her first name- "you are too precious. You are an incredibly talented and beautiful woman. One of the most amazing I've ever met." Remus chuckled bitterly under his breath. "But I am a broken man. I break the things that I touch. You may feel as if you can handle the baggage that comes along with loving me, but you have never tried to carry it before. Trust me, it's heavy and it's inconvenient. I wouldn't wish it on the worst of wizards." When Remus walked through the doorway and past Sirius, it was obvious he was done with the conversation.

When Tonks came rushing in behind him frustratedly, it was clear she was not. "I already love you. And the baggage I carry knowing that the feeling isn't reciprocated breaks me daily. You think you have baggage? I am a grown woman who repels every man she encounters. Including a werewolf. You're broken? We're all broken! I can't hide the way I feel about anything, everyone knows everything. It's on my face. It's in my hair!" She gestured wildly toward her orange hair to prove her point. "Damn you, Remus Lupin. You are my downfall and I can't even enjoy it."

Remus never lifted his eyes from his feet. He felt that if he looked into her eyes as she broke down in front of him, he would lose his resolve and confess his true feelings. After the sound of her huffing had quieted and it seemed like she was no longer going to yell, he lifted his head slightly. She stared at her own feet, tears making their way down her cheeks periodically. "Damn you," she whispered once more before turning to leave the kitchen.

"Well!" Sirius announced when he heard a door slam upstairs. "That went well. I'm glad everything's on the table and we're all being honest with one another." When Remus met his eyes, he could see the sarcasm twinkling there dangerously.

"What do you want me to say?" Remus whispered quietly. "You want me to tell her that the thought of her being in pain breaks my heart? That I wish more than anything in this world that I could hold her every night. That I want to wake up next to her each morning. That I want to know what color her hair is when she's sleeping. What color it is when she's experiencing pleasure. I want to spend the rest of my life with her, but I cant just- You want me to look that woman in the eyes and ask her to look past the fact that every month I turn into a monster? That I could hurt her? Is that what you want?" With every point he had made, he had taken a step closer to his dear friend.

Sirius burst out in hollow laughter. "Please, I'm begging you, please tell me you're joking, Moony. There's no way you're truly this daft." Sirius wore an expression of frustration and Remus' look of confusion showed that he was being deadly serious. "You don't have to ask her to look past your furry little problem, you twat, she already has. The only person that ever needed to look past it was you! You're the one that can't get over it. You don't think I notice the look of shame you wear the morning after? I've seen it. I look at you differently, I'll admit, but it's in wonder. How a man can go through so much from such a young age and still stand to be a brilliant, humble bloke."

The two men looked up to see James watching them sadly. He merely nodded to address them. James had been thinking over going to see Lily for several days now. He wondered what she might say when they encountered one another again after all this time. He hadn't seen her since the ending of their last year at Hogwarts, about a year prior. He hadn't spoken to her for longer than that. After the altercation they had in the middle of their seventh year, their interactions had been tense.

She seemed to be unaffected while all he could think about was the look on her face when he had admitted to her that he fancied her.

_It had been an extra long practice, as they were going up against Slytherin in only two days. James had been unrelenting on his team. They were all exhausted and currently making their way back up to the castle from the pitch. He was lost in his thoughts so he didn't notice the petite figure lying neatly on the ground admiring the nature around her until he had dug his foot into her side and landed face first in the grass. He immediately moved to blame whoever he had tripped over until he noticed the unshed tears in her beautiful green eyes._

_"Lily-" he began._

_"What on earth, Potter?" she interrupted. "What were you thinking? Watch where you're going!" She clutched her side with one hand and wiped furiously at the tears running down her face with the other. She stood up and began walking away from him before he had even gotten up off of the ground._

_"Lily! Lily, wait. Hold up a second," he requested. "It was an accident. My brain wasn't thinking about where I was going; I was thinking about the game in a few days. I'm really sorry." His voice was gentle and his brow pulled in an apologetic way. She believed him immediately, but her side hurt._

_"Yeah, well, maybe if you took your brain off of yourself and your team for once in your life, you'd see other people. You know what those are?" Her tone was bitter and she began to regret it the moment that hurt registered in his gaze._

_"Evans. I often think of other people." He stepped forward and reached to remove a piece of grass from her hair. Her features flinched slightly but other than that she remained still. She was too shocked by his act of gentleness to respond appropriately. When he dropped the blade of grass to the ground, he met her eyes once more. "I truly am sorry, are you okay?" She stared at him for a moment and then nodded her head._

_She dropped her hand from her side when James glanced at it warily. "I'm fine. I'm sorry I yelled at you." She admitted quietly._

_"It was warranted. Besides, you're very attractive when you're all fired up." He had a cocky smirk that he quickly hid and replaced with a sheepish smile. "Don't get me wrong, you're beautiful all the time, but it's different when you're mad. You have this fire, this passion that comes out." He swallowed thickly. "It's distracting. I almost forgot you're mad at me."_

_Lily was at a loss for words, mindless flirting was something she expected. She was prepared with a quip in response to him insisting she fancied him, but a compliment? She didn't quite know what to say. "James... I- Thank you," she whispered. _

_"Lily, as beautiful as you are when you're mad, I don't want to fight with you." He stepped forward. "I want to laugh and enjoy ourselves." He took another step forward. "I want to spend every moment I can with you, I already spend them thinking about you." He took the last step he could without running her over. "I want to be able to call you mine, I want to hold you. I- I want to be with you." He was gazing down at her with such an intense expression, Lily didn't know how to respond._

_So she fell back on tradition: she called his bluff. "Very funny, James, it's cute. Stop teasing me, go kick some other girl and then try to persuade her by pretending to fancy her." She didn't give him the opportunity to correct her. She simply turned around and walked away from him quickly._

The following half of the year was spent awkwardly. James was heart-broken that Lily couldn't possibly feel the same way about him and Lily was trying to forget the fact that she may have genuinely caught the infamous James Potter's attention. If, when he saw her next, she played it off like it never happened, he would go along with it. But if she showed any interest in him, he would take her up on it without the slightest hesitation.

Now, if only he could think up a way to explain to her that he was moving into the house next door to hers...

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I hope that did the trick ~ Lemme know. I believe you'll have some potent all James/Lily content next chapter, but I may push it back. We'll see. I adore Remus and Tonks! Oh! Side note: Several people messaged me out of curiosity, so I'll tell everyone. Tonks is the same age as the rest of the gang in my story. :)


	4. Teenage nerves

I'm posting in the morning to make up for the fact that I technically posted last week on Saturday... I feel so bad about that, sorry! Alright, my beautiful (inside and out) readers, it's time for some James drama. :)

enjoy.

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He had never felt more like a teenage girl than the moment he sat on his floor, surrounded by clothing. James couldn't figure out what to wear. They were going to see Lily later today and he wanted to look good. He hadn't exactly tried to look good after Hogwarts. He had just been coasting through life without an end goal. Until he had the opportunity to reconnect with the brilliant and beautiful young woman he had loved from afar for half of his existence.

It was in this position that Sirius found him several minutes later. Reminiscent and half-dressed. The door had started to open and James hadn't bothered to move or attempt to cover up how pathetic he looked. "Hey mate, we're all ready are you almo-" Sirius stopped and scanned the mess that was James' room. "What are you...?" He began to ask a question when he found that he already knew the answer. "Okay." The two best friends began to survey the piles of clothing strewn across the room. "How about you stand up and go brush your teeth, I'm going to find you something to wear." Sirius suggested calmly.

James stood up and mindlessly walked to the door. "Fix your hair, too." Sirius hollered after him as an afterthought. He ended up grabbing a grey v-neck and a pair of jeans. It was simple and he knew James would put it on without complaining.

Sirius left James in his room after he returned and went to join his other roommates in the kitchen. Remus looked up expecting to see Sirius and James entering the room, he had the tact to lower his head down and refocus on his paper. Peter, on the other hand, held no such manners. "Where in the bloody hell is James? He's been in his bedroom for almost an hour." Peter was known for being aggressive in his words when the object of his frustration wasn't around to respond. "We're gonna be late because of him! I ought to go in there and drag him out."

Sirius' face was the picture of amusement and Remus merely chuckled under his breath. "Wormtail, be quiet. James is having a midlife crisis. If we make it there four _hours_ late, we'll be lucky." As Sirius finished his sentence James came shuffling down the hallway, not bothering to be quiet. When he joined the room and looked up to greet his fellow flatmates he was surprised to see an array of different reactions.

Peter was staring at the ground in a way that made you wonder what the ground had done to him. Sirius had a lazy and unconcerned smile on his face. Remus was the only person who looked normal to James, his features were expectant. "Are we all ready?" The most level headed and mature person out of the the four of them asked.

"You know, Remus, I'd say we are!" Sirius thrust himself off the counter and made a huge show of grabbing his coat and walking toward the door. Once the four of them had their personal belongings they headed outside to disapparate. They had to walk about a block to Lily's house, but James was grateful because it gave him time to calm down.

He wasn't sure when it happened, his falling in love with the radiant redhead, but he remembered when he realized that he had been in love with her. It had been a few days prior to him admitting it to her. Sirius and Peter had been caught off guard and harassed by Lucious Malfoy and Severus Snape. After Lily had stumbled upon them, she berated all of them in a general manner and then took twenty-five points from each house. Though she probably should have taken more from Gryffindor considering Sirius drew his wand and aimed it at Lucious right as she walked up. She had decided to privately reproach Sirius afterward instead of making a fool out of him in front of half of the school. It would have been easy, justifiable even, but Lily had chosen to break up the quarrel and approach him later in a secluded manner.

_James was walking back toward his dorm room when he overheard Lily speaking in a hushed manner. In all fairness, he truly wasn't a snooper. He preferred privacy and tried to extend it to other people. However, as his friends had put it on many occasions: when it came to Lily Evans, James wasn't in his right mind. He slowed his pace and attempted to walk on lighter feet. Her delicate voice was becoming more clear. She was just around the next corner._

_"I understand that the four of you believe it to be truly hysterical to torture your fellow students mentally, emotionally and physically, but I don't see it in the same light. I already took away points from both our houses, I don't want to do it again. So please, in the future, have some restraint. I know that Lucius and Severus taunted you, I understand your actions were provoked. But it doesn't justify them." She sighed in a gentle way. "Sirius. You're intelligent. Positively brilliant, I've seen it. Why stoop to this? How would you feel if Severus had done those things to you?" James had only heard her use that tone once before and it was when she was trying to comfort a small, wounded animal._

_"I would be mad, but I would understand I had brought it upon myself. Lily, I know you think you understand what happened today, but you don't. You have no idea of the things they said. The way they spoke about people I love." James listened intently to his best friend as he cleared his throat uncomfortably. "The things they said about you, even. I'll spare you the details because it wouldn't help anyone to hear them, but I won't- I can't," he corrected. "Just stand by and listen to it. Good day, Lovely." It was obvious by the way the two sets of footsteps echoed consistently, growing quieter that they were both headed away from James._

James' respect of Lily had grown leaps and bounds that day. He realized that she held all of the qualities that his mother did. She was brilliant. More often than not, she was correct, but she never made anyone feel unworthy or unintelligent. She went out of her way to include people. She always had other people's best interest in mind. She loved and trusted a person until you gave her a reason otherwise. She gave people the benefit of the doubt. She was kind and genuine. She was beautiful. James fleetingly wished that she would see him in the same light that he held her in. James found that his thoughts of Lily far outnumbered his thoughts of other things. He hoped that Lily thought of him even a quarter of the amount of times that she ran across his brain.

He stumbled slightly when Peter nudged him. James looked up from his feet and scanned his surroundings. The street was curved slightly, the houses on either side of Lily's closer to them across the street. He scanned the house to the right of hers and acknowledged the sign in the front yard. Sirius had come back from one of his Lily stalking sessions and told James that her neighbors were moving. He hadn't ever wanted to live in a muggle neighborhood, but there wasn't a doubt in his mind that he would buy that house.

He shifted his gaze to Lily's front door where a small figure occupied the space. He couldn't make out all of her features, but he could tell she hadn't changed much. Remus grabbed the back of his shirt and dragged him forward in a gentle and subtle manner. "Take a deep breath. You'll die without oxygen, Prongs." he whispered to the nervous wreck that was his friend.

James tried to wipe his palms on his jeans in an inconspicuous way. They were getting clammy, it seemed kind of silly to be this nervous over seeing an old friend. Then again, when you're in love with that same old friend, the game is slightly different.

Lily began to make her way down her porch steps to meet them. Her smile was dazzling. He red hair shone in the sunlight and her skin positively glowed. It took everything in him to continue walking like a normal human being. Everything in him wanted to stop and stare with an open mouth.

Remus let go of James' shirt and stepped forward to meet her first. He hugged her tightly and they laughed about something quietly. Peter was next. The hug they shared was shorter and slightly more awkward, but they smiled and swapped a few private words of their own. Sirius regarded her in an obscene manner and then proceeded to sweep her into a hug. He spun her around in a circle. James expected her to be frustrated and indignant, but she just threw her head back and laughed. She seemed completely content in their presence until her eyes met his.

His stomach dropped. The woman standing before him was everything he wanted and then some more. They were so close and yet so far at the same time. "James," she acknowledged shortly. Lily didn't make any move toward him, she just stared.

Meanwhile, James was having trouble regulating his breathing. The object of his affection was standing before him and his opportunity to touch her in some way was right there as well. But since he made no move toward her either, she turned to walk back into her home and motioned for the four of them to follow.

Remus glanced his way in sympathy, Peter in worry, and Sirius only gave him a rude hand gesture. James tripped over his own feet as he hurried after his roommates. He had barely even stepped foot in her home before he opened his mouth and said something stupid. It was a mere verbal observation, one made out of defense. He was nervous and he felt intimidated, so he didn't censor his words. The moment the words left his mouth, he wished desperately to put them back in, and the feeling only escalated when he saw the look on her face.

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I absolutely adore hearing from you guys. :) I'm writing a TWD story at the same time as this and hardly anyone reviews, so you guys make me smile. I've started recognizing several names, thank you for sticking around. :)

Grace


	5. Old friends, new memories

It's technically Friday (1:08am) and I just can't keep this to myself any longer!

I just want to brag on this fandom for a second, you guys are awesome! You make me feel so loved. :) I get genuinely excited to read your reviews on Fridays. I update and then I pretend to not be sitting on my phone waiting for notifications to pop up. It's legitimately my favorite part of Friday. To everyone who reviews, everyone who has followed or favorited this story, thank you. I've worked hard on the ideas I've poured into this story, and I've written ahead of where we are right now because of how excited I am about this story. Seriously, you guys are super-duper fantastic. Quick shout out to my beta, TheSummerNightingale, she is absolutely amazing. I message her about random things at one in the morning and she responds to help my crazy muse.

enjoy.

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The phone rang for the fourth time and she couldn't help but bounce her knees out of nervousness. Lily couldn't remember the last time she had heard her sister's voice. It had been longer than she would have liked. She and Petunia had been so close and then Lily's involvement with magic had torn them apart. No matter how hard Lily had tried, Petunia seemed to be determined to resent her younger sister forever. The phone rang a few more times and right as Lily was about to hang up she heard a click. "Hello?" a female voice answered.

"Petunia?" Lily asked quietly. She knew it was her; Lily recognized her voice immediately, but she wasn't sure what the appropriate greeting was after this many years had gone by. Petunia had moved out of the home they had grown up in during Lily's fifth year at Hogwarts. Her parents hadn't told her while she was in school so it had been quite the shock to return home expecting to see your sister, but instead, finding her and her things absent.

"This is she, may I ask who is calling?" Petunia's tone was one of a professional standing. Distant and hardened. Lily couldn't help but wonder if going off to learn of her magical abilities had had anything to do with it. Lily's heart ached a little with the knowledge that her sister didn't recognize her voice.

"Petunia, it's me, Lily. How are you?" She tried to keep her words neutral, as she didn't want to sound too desperate. There was a moment of silence on the other end and Lily wondered briefly if her sister had actually hung up.

"I am well," she stated in a factual manner. "And you?" The way her question came out didn't convey interest, quite the opposite really.

Lily answered anyway. "I'm good, thank you. I was calling because I've finally gotten all settled into my new home and I was hoping you would come for a visit. It's been awhile. I'd love to catch up with you. Hear all about your life, maybe share some about mine..." She trailed off. Her stomach was in knots at the prospect of her sister's answer. Either one would be cause for strong emotions.

As much as Lily prided herself in having everything together, she knew that if Petunia refused to visit, it would tear her up. "I don't know Lily, I'm a very busy person. Maybe you could send me a picture or two and we can converse via email." Lily's heart sunk.

_I miss you, Tuney. I miss my sister._

Lily hadn't realized that she had voiced her thoughts aloud until her sister caved. "Fine. I suppose if you miss me so terribly, I can pop in for a little while. When are you free next?" Her sister demanded impatiently.

"Perfect!" Lily whispered excitedly. "I work from home mostly, so any time is fine. I only live a few minutes down the road from you if you'd like to come by later today..." Her voice was confident and expectant now that Petunia had promised to come and visit.

Petunia let out a deep sigh that sounded like static in Lily's ear. "Fine. How does five sound? We can talk over dinner." Lily was about to open her mouth to agree, considering dinner was more than she ever expected, when her sister spoke again. "I'll see you then. Goodbye."

Lily immediately set to working on dinner for her and Petunia. She got out potatoes and began chopping them. Grabbing some meat, she hummed to herself and continued making Petunia's favorite meal. Her hips swayed slightly from side to side as she gathered ingredients and spices, chopped them and mixed them together. It had been awhile since she had cooked a meal for more than just herself.

A loud bark of laughter caught her attention. It was muffled, but she thought it came from next door. She leaned forward and peeked out the window above her kitchen sink. The sight that she held made her crack a smile. Sirius and Peter were carrying furniture into James' new house. She refused to get too caught up in the thought of James moving in next to her because she knew she wouldn't finish making the meal.

_They had barely crossed the threshold of her home when James had opened up his big mouth and said something offensive. He really was capable of being nice, it happened often, until he was in the presence of a certain Lily Evans. The way he felt about her intimidated him and her beauty made him feel inadequate. When James felt intimidated, he tended to lash out and make other people feel insecure in a subconscious attempt to level the playing field._

_"Your garden is looking pretty sorry, Lovely. There's no way that with your job you can't find the time to take care of it properly." His tone was the essence of humor. He meant for it to sound lighthearted, flirtatious and teasing even, but it came out with a sarcastic and biting edge._

_Lily looked up sharply. _Of course those are the first words he says to me in over a year._ She had thought. Instead of handing a rude quip in response she merely shrugged her shoulders and led them into her kitchen. She already had Remus' favorite dessert made and sitting on the table. The water jug sat by itself on the counter so she grabbed several glasses to place with it._

_Always one to beat a dead horse, Sirius went out of his way and the natural flow of everyone else's avoidance to revive the previous comment. "Since when have you been interested in gardening, James?" He accused solemnly._

_Lily and Remus kept their eyes downcast as the two best friends fought a silent battle with their eyes. "I think Herbology was the only class James ever took notes in..." Peter said in an attempt to defuse the tension._

_"I just think a person's garden says a lot about them, I don't want Lily to have a bad rep with her neighbors." James falsely admitted. Sirius' smile only grew with the lie._

_"That's thoughtful. So what are you going to do about your garden when you move in next door?" _Of course!_ James thought to himself. He should have known Sirius had an end goal by pushing the topic. In this case he ended up killing two birds with only one small, well aimed, self propelled stone. James had not only set up his entire downfall, but he strode right into it with his head held high._

_Sirius had let Lily know that James was the buyer of the house next door and then he left James with the choice of being wrong or doing extra work. "Next door?" Lily asked quietly. To her credit, she barely even started when the news had been so carelessly spouted off._

_"Yeah," Peter began. "James has been wanting to live in a muggle neighborhood for awhile now. When he heard there was a house for sale around here, he just couldn't resist the opportunity." Everyone, Lily included, knew that Peter was lying but James appreciated his friend's attempt nonetheless. "He didn't even know you lived next door at the time!" Peter squeaked out to finish his thought._

_Immediately, James dropped his head down into his hands. Sirius snickered quietly but Remus' eyes snapped to see Lily's reaction. She looked like she was about to crack a smile. Her eyes danced with amusement in James' direction. She clearly wasn't mad or creeped out._

_"On another note, Lily, you look absolutely breathtaking. If you'd like, I'll ravish you in the bathroom before I leave." Sirius blurted out. Lily rolled her eyes in refusal to rise to his bait and moved to grab one of the glasses she had just set down._

When she had first heard Sirius blurt out that James was moving in next door, she had panicked on the inside. After awhile though, she warmed up to the idea of James being her neighbor and was back to laughing at James' expense.

A loud curse word drew her out of her thoughts and onto the men outside. Peter was clutching his hand and jumping around while Sirius stood with his hands behind his head. Lily was going to leave the two adults be when all of the sudden she saw blood. She dropped her knife and ran out to meet them. As she approached them she slowed her pace to a jog and made eye contact with Sirius. He knew her well enough to know that she wanted an explanation. He just shrugged.

Lily stretched her hand out and requested that Peter let her see the damage that had been done. He shakily thrust his hand toward her and she examined it delicately. It seemed like minor damage; the blood made it look like way worse of a cut than it really was. Lily ushered Peter inside of her house and went to get her wand. When she came back she performed a healing spell, closing the wound without much effort. After that she used the scouring charm to clean off the blood.

"Thanks, Lovely. I really appreciate it." Peter blurted out all the while staring at her kitchen counter. "You expecting company?" He questioned when he saw all of the ingredients strewn across the counter.

Lily nodded excitedly. "My sister, actually, I'm so happy she's agreed to see me. It's been too long." Peter's face reflected her excitement and she couldn't help but appreciate it. His small gesture made her feel justified in her giddiness. "Maybe we should go check on the boys, since they like to get distracted." The two of them set off to check on the other men. More so James and Sirius for their mischievousness, but on Remus as well because he had been dealing with them.

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Everyone ready to meet Petunia? I know I am. The next several chapters are set back to back in the timeline, varying from a few minutes to an hour in gaps of time. Let me know what you thought. :)


	6. Accio, simple but effective

You guys! Please don't hate me. I feel like a horrible person, I'm so sorry! You van thank the lovely DreamHawthorn for this chapter at this present moment, (s)he O so kindly reminded me to post. I just got a new job and I pulled a twelve hour shift on Friday... But the time I had showered, I crashed. Then I worked all day today but she sent me a message and it popped up on my phone.

As always, thank you TheSummerNightingale for all of your ridiculously meticulous and wonderful work. You light up my world, dearest.

enjoy.

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Lily had followed Peter over to James's new house and after confirming that everyone was fine, she headed back to her own. She had cleaned her kitchen table, cooked the food, straightened her counter, prepared everything possible, and then cleaned her table again. Everything had to be perfect. Petunia had liked things to be neat and orderly, so Lily wanted everything to be just that. This was the first time that she would be seeing her sister in over a year.

She scanned her counter and noted the excess of food. She could feed several families with the amount of food she had cooked. But she had been nervous! What was she supposed to do? Sit around and tap her foot? That's exactly what she was doing right now as she waited for her sister to arrive. The butterflies in her stomach went from mostly dormant to a frenzied attack on her vital organs when she heard someone knock on her front door.

Not even a few seconds later, the door opened and she heard footsteps entering the main corridor. At first Lily was taken quite aback, as it didn't seem like Petunia to just barge in uninvited. Petunia was anything but cordial, but she was at least respectful. Although, now that she really thought about it, it hadn't seemed like Petunia to just up and move away without even a goodbye letter to her sister. Maybe people changed.

Lily was about to smooth her hair down and round the corner to greet her sister when a very male and very attractive voice announced that her house smelled delicious. "James?" she asked more to herself than anyone else.

When she stomped around the wall that separated her kitchen from the main hall and saw James and Sirius, she huffed in mild irritation. "No. Leave, the both of you. Go home! I have company coming soon and I don't need you-" she looked pointedly at Sirius, "-to go and screw tonight up. It's important to me." Lily added quietly. She stood in front of them expectantly and then realized that the only thing she hadn't finished baking was the dessert. "Ah! My apple dappy!" she cried out suddenly. Spinning rapidly, she jogged back to her oven and ripped it open.

On the middle rack sat a perfectly baked Devonshire apple dappy. She sighed to herself in relief and moved to grab her hot pads. She didn't see them on the counter and began a frantic search for her two red hot pads. "Where are my oven mitts?" She demanded of the two men who had moved to join her. When James shook his head lightly with a furrowed brow, Sirius peeked around the petite woman and stared longingly at the pie in the oven. "Sirius, keep your hands to yourself. That's not for you." When she had finished admonishing the charming young man, she began to panic again.

"I really need those oven mitts. Even with the door open, it'll burn if I don't get it out soon." Lily had turned and was addressing James. He listened to her plea and began to search for the small gloves alongside her. Another minute had passed and Lily was beginning to look crazed. It reminded James of the time when the headmaster at Hogwarts had decided to have a party in each common room, one party a weekend for a full month. He had given Gryffindor a week's notice and the Head Girl and Boy were to plan it. Remus had spoken a few times about Lily's stress level regarding the party but he hadn't realized how accurate his dear friend was being until he saw it with his own two eyes.

_James had stumbled upon the stunning Lily Evans on her hands and knees. She had the side of her face pressed up against the cold stone floor of the Gryffindor common room with her arm disappearing under the couch. He had been about to head up to his room with the intention of falling into bed. He was so incredibly exhausted and he craved the state of slumber he knew would come easy to him at this point. He had worked himself and his team raw on the Quidditch pitch that afternoon, he was in no mood to help anyone do anything. Anyone except for Lily Evans, of course._

_He cleared his throat and made sure to step with extra weight so that she would notice him. She never even glanced up to address him, she just kept digging for something. "Need any help there, Evans?" he inquired softly. She yelped once in surprise and then again in pain as she jerked her body up quicker than her arm could make its way out from under the couch. As she sat back on her feet, she rubbed her shoulder to alleviate the newly acquired injury. "Sorry, sorry! I didn't mean to startle you. I assumed you had heard me come in." He explained. "What are you trying to reach?"_

_She tried to glare at him but she found herself incapable as he smiled at her expecantly. "My wand, if you must know. I dropped it while trying to clean up this mess we call a common room." She gestured about the room jerkily with her unharmed arm._

_James nodded lightly and without his typical cheek he pulled his wand out and helped her. "_Accio_ Lily's wand." Her wand scraped against the floor, appeared out from under the couch and flew into his hand. He crouched down and ignored the pain in his arm as he stretched his hand out to her. Her state of fluster only seemed to increase and she snatched it from his grasp. She stood up quickly and began to search around for something._

_"You're welcome." He whispered to himself as he forced his body to stand. Mind over matter, he told himself. She hurried around shifting books and vases, chairs and rugs all the while her eyes roamed in search of something. "Lily, what are you doing?" his voice sounded exhausted even to his own ears._

_"I'm looking for my sweater. I set it down when I started cleaning and I didn't realize how late it was until you came up from practice. I need to go to sleep so that I can get up early and finish cleaning in here before the party tomorrow night." James nodded at her but shook his head when she turned to continue her search._

_"_Accio_ Lily's sweater." He grumbled. When her eyes snapped to his, he recognized her embarrassment. She hadn't thought to use that spell even after he had used it moments before. If he had had any energy left in his body he would have laughed, but he didn't. The sweater flew up and over her head and into his hands. He stared down at in in confusion and then looked back up at her, she still had a significant amount of clothing on, but her blush reddened._

_"I-I must have put it on earlier. I guess I just forgot." She whispered. With rushed footsteps she approached him, took the sweater and ran out the portrait hole. He pivoted his body slightly to watch her leave but all he caught was a few wisps of red hair before they disappeared behind the corner. He shook him head and then somehow found an ounce of energy to chuckle at the redheaded mystery that often occupied all of his thoughts._

"Where the hell are my hot pads?" Lily cried out again.

James shook his head to clear it of the memories that were flooding in and raised his wand. "_Accio_ oven mitts." He said into the relative silence. Her eyes snapped to his and when she smirked in an abashed way, he knew she remembered he night he had just thought of. After a moment of expectant silence, confusion marred their features. "Okay. _Accio Lily's_ oven mitts." He tried. Again nothing happened. "_Accio_ Lily's hot pads!" he demanded. When again nothing happened, James stormed over to her sink and snatched up the towel that sat folded neatly beside it.

He walked over to the oven and with a towel covered hand he reached in and brought out the pie. He was about to slam it down onto the stove top but thought better of it at the last minute and so he set it down gently instead. Both Sirius and Lily stood in awe of his outburst, but neither commented on it. James spun around with a triumphant smile and informed her that she didn't "need hot pads anyway".

Lily was about to thank him when her doorbell rang. Her stomach dropped at the sight of her kitchen. There were things strewn abut now that she had gone on a search rampage. With each step filled with dread, she made her way to her front door. As she opened it up she stared at the back of her sister. Something red slid off of her door and raced past her body but she didn't stop to consider what they were because Petunia turned around and met her eyes. There was a yelp and some laughter from behind her. She wasn't going to address the noise until Petunia raised her eyebrows and made to step around Lily into the house.

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MUAHAHAHAHA. Hate me. I know. BUT! Because I have posted late twice now... and I love you guys... I'm going to post another chapter in about two minutes... :)

Oh hush! I can hear your excited squeals from my bedroom. :P But only if you promise to review on both... I want to hear individual thoughts! :) Love you gorgeous people.


	7. Hindsight is 2020

Ta-Da! Two in a row. Kind of makes up for the fact that I missed Friday, huh? I sure hope so.. I feel really bad about that, you guys. Again, if DreamHawthorn (a faithful and delightful follower and reviewer) hadn't said anything it probably would have gone on until Sunday or Monday evening until I noticed.

TheSummerNightingale ~ You rock my socks off. You're so workable and fantastic and this story would not be what it is without you. :)

enjoy.

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James saw Lily's look of concern toward the room and immediately made to straighten up the kitchen. He started with the towel in his hands. After he folded it and put it back next to the sink, he tried to align the various dishes along the counter top so that they appeared to be organized. As he turned to insist that Sirius close the drawers Lily had left open, something smacked into his body and caused him to yelp out in pain. With one hand braced on the counter top, he used the other to cradle his hand over his zipper. He tried to regulate his breathing and focus on the offending objects on the ground. Sirius was laughing loudly at his friend's pain and the reason behind it. Two red oven mitts lay carelessly on the ground at James' feet.

He shook his head but made to grab them anyway. He ignored the throbbing in his crotch, the type of throbbing no man wants. Sirius began to follow suit and closed a few open drawers and cabinet doors on his way to the oven. He shut the door and turned it off just as Lily cleared her throat from behind. James stood up and made eye contact with Lily, who looked conflicted. He was going to ask who was at the door when another woman stepped around Lily and regarded James with her eyes.

"Well hello there, beautiful. I'm afraid we have never met, what a shame. I'm Sirius." Petunia raised her perfectly sculpted eyebrows in surprise, but stepped forward to shake his outstretched hand nonetheless. He brought her hand up to his mouth and kissed the back of it before he let it go. "And who might you be?" He wasn't actually interested in the woman in front of him, but he loved getting women all riled up.

Petunia stared back at the flamboyant man flatly. "Petunia. I'm Lily's sister." Her voice wasn't bitter, but there was a touch of disdain toward the people she was in the presence of. "Lily," Petunia turned to face her sister. "I was unaware that this was a party. I was under the impression that it was going to be just me and you." She looked mildly uncomfortable and annoyed.

James furrowed his brow in confusion. How had such a distant, emotionless, hardened woman come from the same loins as Lily? The two sisters were as different as two people could be. Lily was passionate and funny; she was relatable and thoughtful. Lily moved with an air of grace and beauty, while Petunia moved with a very blocky and tight frame.

"Oh!" Lily exclaimed. "No, no. It is just going to be you and I. James and Sirius were just leaving." Lily gave the two boys very pointed looks.

Sirius smiled devilishly and moved to make himself more comfortable in the corner of the counter. The home owner's rage filled eyes did nothing to deter him. James wanted to just up and leave for Lily's sake, but he had heard so much about her sister that he wanted to be selfish for a moment. It became clear to the petite red head that the two men in her home weren't planning on leaving anytime soon, to her eternal dismay. To Lily's eternal dismay, it became clear that the two men in her home weren't planning on leaving anytime soon. Just as she was about to forcibly make the two men start heading for the door, she heard the very same door open and close.

"Lovely, it smells great in here. I had no idea you could cook!" Remus Lupin.

"What a great treat, I hope there's enough to go around. We're famished from all the heavy lifting." Peter Pettigrew.

Of all the times for the Marauders to be in her home, it was the day that her sister finally agreed to see her again. If it wouldn't have deterred her sister, she would have had her wand out and had been threatening to hex the four young men already. As the two additional men rounded the corner and saw Petunia, they had the decency to hesitate.

"Lily, I'm sorry. I was unaware you had company this evening. We'll just be going." Remus spoke softly. His tone was gentle and apologetic, but the three men knew him well enough to know that he was being deadly serious.

"Ashamed of me, are you, Lily?" Petunia asked snidely.

Lily's eyes widened in horror. This is exactly what she didn't want to happen. "No-no! Tuney, no. I'm not ashamed of you," she insisted.

The room was slightly tense and everyone had paused to hear the interaction. "So you're ashamed of your friends then?" Petunia changed her tactics slightly. Sirius clenched his fist so hard that he left half moon marks on his palm; he wanted so badly to joke and aleive the tension, but he knew this was important to Lily. He did have some self-control.

"What?" Lily said softly. "Why would you-?" She took a deep breath and raised her chin a little bit. "No. I'm not ashamed of anyone in this room." Lily wasn't going to let her sister ruin anything else in her life.

Petunia wore a forced smile. "Then why would you have them leave?" Lily liked to consider herself a pretty patient person, but her sister was pushing every button she had.

James stepped forward and brought his hand to meet Lily's elbow. She glanced down at the contact and cursed her body silently for calming because of it. "Lily just really wanted some time to catch up with you, Petunia. We don't want to intrude." he explained quietly. Lily couldn't explain why, but she had the sudden urge to turn around and bury her face into James' chest in thanks. Maybe even cry a little. She fought it, of course, because if she did that, Petunia would get the wrong idea about her and James.

Or the right idea, as Lily didn't exactly know what was going on with them.

"Nonsense. I'm not an incapable. I can hold a conversation while there is more than one person present." Petunia scrunched her face in the direction of Peter who was picking at his nails. "And you've cooked enough food to feed an army, Lily." Petunia's words seemed friendly enough, but Lily knew her sister was up to something.

"Alright, Remus, would you mind to get out a few more plates." Lily fully turned around to face Sirius to ask a favor of him. "Sirius, the silverware is right behind you. James, could you-" When Lily turned back around, she saw James already getting out more glasses. She smiled for a moment in surprise. The boy that she had begun to see in a different light toward the ending of her schooling was now a man. A man that was fully capable and attractive. He was intelligent and kind, thoughtful and tactful. He was James Potter and she liked this new version of him.

Lily dropped her smile as the thought crossed her mind. Immediately, she began to justify it in her head. _Well of course you like him, Lily, you guys are friends._ Peter stared at the red head and smiled to himself in recognition. The look she had just been giving James was a look that James had spent the better half of his life giving to her. It was about time she caught up.

Lily stepped forward to pour herself a glass of ice water when James turned and held it out to her. "Oh! Um, thank you, James." She stumbled her way through her words, hoping that the guys would think it was nerves pertaining to Petunia. Sirius stepped forward and shooed James away from the drinks, insisting that he had only gotten out the silverware and that he could do more. Lily found so many things to be off that evening that she didn't even consider that Sirius would be up to something.

In hindsight, she wished she had.

Sirius pivoted his body so that no one at the table could see what he was doing. "What does everyone want?" he asked without turning his head. Several people answered back at the same time and after some quiet laughter, they all answered one at a time. Sirius went about pouring each drink, water for Peter, tea for James, tea for Petunia, and water for himself. He smiled easily at the four glasses in front of him and then quickly pulled a vial out of his pocket. It was sweet tasting, but had no scent and while it did have a slight red hue, the tea would easily disguise it. Sirius poured it into James' glass and put the vial back into his pocket in just enough time for Lily to round his person and offer to help carry the drinks.

He panicked for a moment and then realized it was unnecessary. "Sure, Lovely. That one is for James and that one is for Petunia." Lily nodded with a smile and grabbed the two glasses of tea thoughtlessly. It didn't matter to her who got whose glass. After all, they were the same thing. Right?

In hindsight, Sirius wished that he had just grabbed the teas and left the water to Lily.

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I'm sorry. I know, I gave you two chapters though! :) Please don't throw fruit at me! Haha. Let me know how mad you are right now. Scale of 1 to 13? :) Remember what I said about separate reviews! ;)

You people are too sexy for your own good. Stop! It's hurting my eyes. ;* (That's a kissy face...)


	8. Sweet or unsweet?

I'm late again... Surprise, surprise. I'm so sorry everyone! I feel horrible. I may move my posting day to Saturday... Fridays are so hectic at work that I am dead on my feet by the time I get home. My wonderful beta deserves some mention here... She's so awesome! Thank you Summer for all that you do... Responding to my late night freak-out messages and calming my muse when it tries to run away. :)

Thank you to everyone who reads and reviews. I love seeing your names on my screen.

enjoy.

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The dinner was quiet, slightly tense, but for the most part it was comfortable. Remus asked all the questions Lily didn't want to. She didn't want to ask questions that she felt she should already know the answer to. Who doesn't know what their sister's profession is? Who doesn't know if their sister is seeing someone? Turns out, Petunia was interested in a man she had met at work, and his name was Vernon.

Petunia took another sip of her tea and then looked up to address her sister. "Lily, you've made this tea so sweet," she critiqued.

Lily furrowed her brow in confusion. "It's unsweetened tea, Petunia."

Petunia huffed in frustration. "Don't patronize me, I'm drinking sweet tea."

James looked around the table and noticed Sirius fidgeting guiltily in his seat. "Sirius. A word please." James pushed his chair back and made his way into the living room. If Sirius hadn't followed him, he would have gone back and dragged him out of his seat. The two sisters could be heard speaking tensely about the ingredients in the tea from the other room. When James spun around on the spot, he looked expectantly at Sirius. "What have you done?" He demanded.

"Why do you think I've done something?" Sirius defended heatedly.

"Because Petunia is drinking unsweetened tea but she's convinced that it's sweet and you can't stand still." Sirius stopped moving when James mentioned it. "What the hell did you do?" He demanded again.

The guilty party huffed uncomfortably. Sirius shuffled his feet slightly and then mumbled something under his breath.

"I'm sorry, what was that?" James' tone showed his unwillingness to be patient.

"I said, I may or may not have put a potion in Petunia's tea." Sirius refused to make eye contact with James and so settled on glancing nervously around the room.

"You have-" James realized his voice was raised, so he started over in a harsh whisper. "You have got to be shitting me. You know how much this means to Lily! What is it? What's the potion? Maybe we can undo it somehow." he suggested. When Sirius shook his head, James stepped forward and attempted to tower over the mischievous man. "Damnit, Padfoot, answer the question. I need to try and fix this."

Sirius laughed a bitter and short laugh. "I'm not being unworkable, there's nothing you can do. It's a beauty potion. They have to be waited out, you know that." James was convinced when he saw the look on Sirius' face.

"Alright, alright. But what was it?" he questioned again.

"It was a potion to temporarily change the color of one's hair." Sirius sounded too calm in comparison to his previous fidgeting. James stared back at his best friend with angry eyes, and he didn't even have to ask the next question. Sirius just answered it. "It changes hair to be a... shade of green." James' body language shifted from annoyed to panicked in mere seconds.

"What?" A small huff and some pacing later, James was back in Sirius' personal bubble. "Why on earth would you pick Petunia's glass? Of all the people here, you picked the Muggle?"

"Hey now, I was trying to put it in your glass! Lily mixed them up, this isn't my fault." Sirius sounded incredulous.

"Not your fault?" James mimicked his incredulous tone. "Not. Your. Fault. Let's look at that statement real quick. Think about that for a second. You put a potion into someone's drink and it's _not_ your fault?" Sirius nodded animatedly. "Sweet Merlin, you're daft. We have to fix this before it takes effect."

Right as the words came tumbling out of his mouth, Lily rounded the corner like her heels were on fire. "Does someone want to explain to me why Petunia's hair is a bright, bright, _bright_ green?" she inquired accusingly.

James was about to open his mouth and attempt to do some damage control over the situation when Sirius opened his mouth and shocked everyone. "It's my fault." He admitted. "I was trying to mess with James but you gave his glass to Petunia. Lily, I'm so-"

"Save it." she cut him off angrily. "You can _try_ to apologize once we've fixed this." Lily turned and walked past the two men, trying to take a few deep breaths so that she didn't lose her temper.

"I don't mean to be ignorant, but, what's the harm in letting it run its course? Just tell Petunia to wear a hat until tomorrow or something." Two pairs of eyes shot to Sirius as he finished his sentence.

"What's the harm?" Lily mocked. "The harm, Sirius, is that Petunia hates magic. She's hardly spoken to me since I got my letter from Hogwarts and she realized that she couldn't tag along. If she leaves here with green hair, and knows it, she'll never come back." Lily took another step toward Sirius and he began to fidget again. "I could lose my sister because the two of you... _idiots_ decided to be children. Grow the hell up, Sirius. And James," she turned to address him. "I can't believe you let him do this." Her tone was sad and both men, though only one was guilty, felt horrible.

Sirius slumped his shoulders forward and rubbed his face with both hands. Lily turned to head further into her house with a hand over her mouth. James recognized her body language; she was about to cry. He had only ever seen Lily truly cry once before and it was when she had heard the word 'Mudblood' come out of the mouth of her best friend. He ruffled his black hair and headed after her, just like last time.

_Even James would admit that maybe they had gone a little far this time. Four against one wasn't exactly fair as far as odds go. Typically Lucius was there to defend Snape, but this time the Marauders had found him all alone down by the Black Lake. He was sitting at the base of a tree twirling his wand, seemingly doing nothing. "Snivellus!" Sirius shouted out. The black haired boy whipped his head up to see the four young men approaching him._

_His facial features were that of contempt toward the Gryffindors. "Black," he spat. Sirius bowed slightly as if he was being introduced to the Minister of Magic. Peter began shifting his weight from foot to foot, he was uncomfortable with the feel of the introduction. "What brings the _brave_ Gryffindors all the way down here? Something scary maybe?" he mocked effortlessly. James stepped forward and, now close enough to do so, nudged the pile of books that sat next to the boy who was the center of attention. Snape sneered up at him and stood up, grabbing his stack of school books on the way. "Watch it, Potter." he warned lightly._

_The five of them stood there, somewhat awkwardly, for a few moments without saying anything. "This is ridiculous." Remus announced. Peter nodded avidly in agreement. Snape seemed to agree as well and made to walk away. He turned and began walking parallel to the lake to get around the other bodies close to him._

_Sirius stepped out slightly to invade his path, instead of frustrating the Slytherin boy, it merely forced him closer to the lake. James and Sirius glanced at one another and in an instant were on the same page. Poor Severus Snape never saw it coming. As the two best friends continued to walk towards him, he continued to hug the lake's edge. Once he was close enough, James stuck his foot out to trip him. The moment he lost his balance, Sirius nudged him with his shoulder. Snape went tumbling sideways into the murky water with his school books. There wasn't anything dangerous about what they had done, per say. He was hardly in danger, sitting in about two feet of water._

_Remus didn't step in to stop them, he turned his back. He was a prefect and if he was watching the altercation, he'd have to take points away from his own house. Potentially even award points to Slytherin if Snape reacted in a tactful manner, though that was doubtful. His shoulders were slack and he had his arms crossed over his chest lazily. It was only when he heard James say the words "_Accio_ Severus' wand" that he became slightly concerned about where this was all headed. Snape sputtered in exasperation. "_Wingardium Leviosa_" Remus heard next. He couldn't hold his curiosity in any longer, so he spun on the spot and saw Snape's things fly further out into the lake._

_"Swim for it, Snivellus." Sirius busted out in laughter when Peter finally chimed into the situation._

_"Enough!" Five sets of eyes searched for the voice and eventually landed on a petite redhead. A few of the boys groaned inwardly because they knew of her temper. "How dare you? Traumatizing a fellow student?" The tone she was using reminded James of McGonagall. "It's bad enough that you pushed him into the water and stole his wand, but then you send his things half way across the lake?" she huffed a few puffs of air, but her face only seemed to get more red. "_Accio_ Severus' school books!"_

_Dripping wet school books came flying toward her and then two books from the castle came tumbling through the air from behind her. "_Impedimenta_!" she snapped. The books slowed in their movements and then dropped to the ground around her. "_Exaresco_." she whispered with her wand aimed at the books. They went from wet to dry in a mere second. The four Marauders looked everywhere but at Lily in a guilty manner. "You should be ashamed of yourselves! That was incredibly dangerous. Severus can't even swim," she explained. She had only meant to make them feel bad for their dangerous actions, not to give them ammo against her friend._

_"Snivelly can't swim?" Sirius choked out, fighting back his laughter. "Isn't that quite appropriate. Useless on land _and_ in the water." he taunted. The four boys who weren't dripping wet began to laugh loudly at the misfortune. Remus attempted to fight the laughter, but the idea of a boy almost of age unable to swim was too good of an opportunity for a chuckle._

_"Enough!" Lily snapped for the second time. "Stop. Sirius, twenty-five points from Gryffindor for your words." She glanced at Snape who had since gotten out of the water and stormed over to James to retrieve his wand. "Twenty-five points for stealing Severus' wand." she announced weakly. Snape performed the same spell Lily had only moments before and his robes stopped dripping. He grabbed his books from her feet and glared at her. "Sev? I'm sorry. I'm trying to help." she defended._

_"By _lying_ and telling them I can't swim?" Lily found herself confused by his claim that she was lying. Hadn't he told her a few months back that he couldn't swim? His embarrassment was quite apparent on his face. She realized that the boy standing in front of her would rather have her seen as a liar than have the Marauders know he can't swim. Her heart sank and it was then that she realized that she had played right along with the Marauders completely on accident by revealing a secret of her dear friend._

_Lily stuttered her way through an explanation, "I- I didn't, I wasn't. I'm sorry." her shoulders deflated. "I was just trying to help." she admitted defeatedly._

_"I don't need help from a Mudblood." he spit out before storming off without his dignity. Sirius stood up straighter and moved to follow him out of anger, but Remus grabbed his arm to stop him._

_"Oh!" Lily exclaimed in anger. "Now you stop them. Fifty points from Gryffindor, because you," she looked straight at Remus. "Are a prefect and couldn't be bothered to do your job." her tone was biting and the realization that they had just lost one hundred points from their house wasn't lost on anyone. She had been fighting tears since Snape called her a Mudblood, but couldn't hold them in any longer. She covered her mouth and proceeded to speed walk toward the castle. James looked at the faces around him and surprisingly, even Sirius looked disappointed. Though he couldn't tell if it was in their actions or about the lost points. He ruffled his hair and then followed Lily up to the castle._

James sighed quietly, snapping himself out of his memories once more and turned around from the hallway to direct his attention back to his best friend. "Fix this. I don't care what you have to do, but fix this. Now." Sirius, for once, merely nodded and moved to do what had been requested of him. James began walking in the direction that Lily had taken off in.

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Ooooooooh... I love that flashback. That one and one that I'm going to have in one of the next few chapters are my two favorites. :)

Random update in my life... I bought a betta fish. My dog hates me so I bought a fish. :) It's name is Sheldon Junior 2 of the female variety (Shelly for short.) Because I bought a fish a few days ago and I named it Sheldon Junior. He died, so I bought a female betta. But I'm too lazy to pick another name.


	9. The surface versus what lies beneath

(I'm updating early because 1. I can hardly contain myself. And 2. I feel really bad about updating on Saturdays for the last two weeks.) OKAY! This is my new favorite chapter. For several reasons... You'll see. I hope you love it. I know that I've one overboard with James and Lily and I've stiffed you guys on the Remus and Tonks portion of this story over the last several chapters. Next chapter is the last one of solely James and Lily... We'll see our favorite metawolf couple soon!

I have just been beside myself with some of the feedback I've received recently. You guys are awesome! What a wonderful fandom to start off in. :) I love you all!

enjoy.

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Sirius watched as James left the room to chase after Lily. Not being an irregular occurrence, he was hardly bothered by it. He thought back to the time that he had pushed Snape into the Black Lake. He remembered Lily catching them and having seen the entire thing from her walk around the castle grounds, she stormed in to save the day. She had been so frustrated and had taken it as a personal dis that they would do such a thing to old Snivelly.

He heard Remus soothing Petunia's frustrated tone from the other room and smiled bitterly. Sure, they had harassed her best friend at the time and he had said something unforgivable to her in response, but this seemed worse somehow. He didn't take a rocky and potentially irreparable relationship and ruin it, he took a healthy, thriving relationship and smashed it. There hadn't been any hope to smash with Snape, they had been fine. With Petunia, however, Lily was walking a thin line in hopes of repairing their relationship. But he had just snatched that opportunity from her. His shoulders sagged and he decided he wasn't being productive by analyzing his mistake right now.

Sirius began running through a list of spells in his head that might help. He hadn't thought about any of these particular spells in over a year, so some of them were jumbling together in name, other were mixed as far as the result to the name of the spell. He sighed in frustration and pulled on the hair at the nape of his neck.

Down the hall, James finally found Lily. Their houses might have been right next door, but he hadn't a clue as to how the layouts could be so different. She was sitting with her shoulders hunched forward. They were shaking slightly. "Lils," he whispered quietly. She sniffed loudly and stood up promptly. The sight that he found when his eyes scanned her face made his stomach twist. She quickly wiped away the tears off of her cheeks, but her eyes were still rimmed with moisture and held a distinct red covering.

"Don't." James wasn't sure if she was dismissing him or begging, her tone didn't give away either. "I just need a minute. I need to compose myself so that I can go and speak to my sister for the last time _ever_."

James stepped forward to hopefully embrace her, his genuine thought to comfort her. When he got close enough, he held open his arms and she began to walk forward. His stomach twisted partially in delight, partially in fear. Right as their torsos were about to touch, Sirius busted into the room.

"I think I've got something!" He exclaimed excitedly. James spun around with a clenched jaw, his contempt toward his friend in that moment barely contained.

"What is it?" Lily asked in hope.

"Yes, Padfoot, what is it?" James ground out.

"We could perform an anti-jinx spell?" Sirius asked halfheartedly, as he was confused and concerned by their tones.

Lily looked at him in slight exasperation. "That's not for potions! And it's supposed to be performed _before_ the jinx. Did you even pay attention in school, or are you just daft?" she insulted. James placed his hand on her elbow again and she felt the same tingling sensation from earlier form low in her spine. She took a deep breath and realized that while the prank had been a stupid thing to do, yelling insults at Sirius wasn't going to fix Petunia's green hair. "I'm sorry, Sirius. I didn't mean that. You're brilliant, I'm just panicking right now." The moment that she seemed to be calm again, James dropped his hand back to his side. He would take all the contact he could get, even if it was just her elbow.

The interaction and the change in Lily that occurred because of it was not lost on any of the three, but most especially Sirius.

"_Anteoculatia_?" Sirius suggested next, barely containing his laughter. James coughed loudly into his hands to cover the burst of laughter that erupted from his throat.

Lily fought a smile because she was supposed to be mad at the giggling man in front of him, but she couldn't help the small one that graced her lips. "Antlers? Really, Black? Antlers." Her words and tone sounded demeaning but her amused features gave away her true emotions.

"Green antlers." James corrected. His comment caused a different bout of quiet laughter, but they all sobered pretty quickly once the thought finally registered completely. "What about _colovaria_?" James asked awkwardly, not quite sure if Lily would respond to him the same way she responded to Sirius.

"That could work, I guess. Though it's typically used on objects, so it could go horribly wrong. Instead of changing her hair color back, it might make it fall out," she warned.

"_Episkey_?" Sirius suggested. "I know it's for cuts and scrapes, but at this point I'm willing to try anything." James nodded in agreement.

"_Reparifors_?" James asked excitedly. "That's specifically for magically-induced ailments. It might work..." he trailed off when no one else agreed verbally.

Three heads nodded simultaneously and without a verbal agreement, they all made their way back into the kitchen. James sat down with Sirius and informed the people at the table that Lily had received a phone call and would be back soon. Petunia huffed quietly and made a offhanded remark about priorities that all four men wisely chose to ignore.

Lily stood in her hallway, pretending not to have heard her sister's quip and whispered a color removing spell. James glanced over Petunia's shoulder and saw Lily peeking around the corner with her wand outstretched. Her lips moved and when nothing happened to Petunia's hair, he tried not to let his disappointment show on his face. Lily whispered a healing spell under her breath, but to no avail. She repeated the two words once again but nothing happened. Petunia stretched her arm up to scratch her head. Everyone went rigid with panic, but when her hands returned to her lap without incident, they relaxed once more.

"Please, Merlin, please work." she whispered to herself before saying the last spell they had discussed. Petunia's hair looked a little less green and James sat up straighter, making eye contact with Lily so that he would know it wasn't just her who noticed it. She almost squealed with joy, but she fought the urge and whispered the spell again hoping that it would continue to remove the green.

No such luck.

Lily wanted to cry. She repeated the spell over and over again, but nothing more happened. Finally Petunia stood up abruptly and informed the men in front of her that she needed to use the restroom. James pointed behind her without thought. Not only was Lily right next to the bathroom with her wand, but there was a mirror over the sink. His eyes widened in horror as did Lily's. "What?" Petunia snapped. James tried to stutter out a "Nothing", but the words just wouldn't come. "Is there something on my face?" she questioned in a genuinely concerned voice; the vain never rest.

"Other than beauty?" Sirius covered smoothly. "Nothing at all." He gave her a quick wink and she melted slightly.

Petunia turned to see her sister walking back toward the table and gave her a quick once over. "Why are you panting like a dog in heat?" she critiqued in disgust. Lily shrugged and then met the gazes behind her sister. Petunia followed her gaze to the men still sitting at the kitchen table and furrowed her brows. "You are all so strange," she announced.

Petunia began to walk to the bathroom door which was cracked slightly. As she was about to step into the bathroom, Lily stepped forward and whispered that she had had just enough time to take the mirror off the wall and lean it up against the wall, but she couldn't take it out of the room. James pushed past her, but she paid him no mind and continued to ramble. He whispered out two spells in a rushed manner. The door clicked shut and Lily spun to face him.

"What have you done? What did you just do? What if it doesn't work and you've made it worse?" Lily was panicking and while James was too, he kept it on the inside for her sake.

James was about to attempt to calm her down when Petunia yelled something from the bathroom. "Lily!" she demanded. Lily's stomach dropped and she prepared herself for the fight that was about to ensue. "Why is your mirror on the floor?" Lily hadn't really stopped to consider that Petunia would investigate the frame leaned up against the wall.

"It's broken!" Lily hollered back in alarm. "Just leave it how it is."

"Absolutely not, how improper of you. Nothing about this mirror is broken." Petunia insisted. There was a small scrape from her settling it on the wall and then they heard the door handle.

The moment of truth.

Lily reached out and rested her fingers lazily on James' forearm. She looked like she might faint. Petunia had exited the bathroom with brown hair. She walked forward and looked between James and Lily, and their contact seemed to be something she was curious about. "The lighting in your bathroom is horrible. I looked incredibly pale and my hair was a horrid shade!" She sounded troubled by what she was saying.

Sirius chuckled politely. "Nonsense, love, you look positively ravishing." Petunia seemed content with his assurance and dropped the subject.

Lily stared up at James in wonder and he merely smiled back down at her. Sirius held out the crook of his arm to Petunia and she happily accepted it. He led her back to the table in an effort to give Lily a moment to gather her thoughts.

"What have you done?" she repeated her earlier question, though in amazement instead of anger this time. "I could kiss you," she joked lightly.

"Don't tempt me," he warned. He meant for it to come out lighthearted and joking but he sounded slightly his voice was deep and serious.

She nodded in response to his comment. "Seriously, James, what did you do?" She could hardly stand still, she was so excited.

"I'll trade you the answer for that kiss." he joked.

In all honesty, he hadn't meant to say that aloud, but it was too late now.

"Deal." she whispered.

His eyes widened in momentary shock but then narrowed at her. She was smirking at him and it felt as if they were the only two people in the room. "I performed a hair removal jinx and then a re-growing spell. I figure it was worth a try. The potion shouldn't have changed her cells, just the outward appearance. I figured that if I removed everything on the outside, I could just start over essentially." Lily's smile was so big it covered the majority of the bottom half of her face. "I thought of it when you said that you took the mirror down. I don't know. It was risky, but she would have had green hair even if I didn't try it."

She braced her right hand on his chest and stood on her tippy toes. James swallowed awkwardly, thinking to himself that this wasn't exactly how he imagined his first kiss with Lily to be. He could feel her breath fan over his face and right as her lips were about to meet his, Petunia screamed.

Lily dropped down onto her soles and looked around James to see the commotion. Petunia was gesturing wildly at James and mumbling incoherent sounds. Everyone was confused, but when Petunia snatched her purse from the back of her chair and made to leave, it was clear that something had spooked her terribly. Lily, with her hand still braced on James' chest, looked down and realized all at once what had happened.

James was still holding his wand.

* * *

Ahhhhhhh! I did what? To who? Why?

I HAVE NO IDEA! But it was fun. Who doesn't love a little Jily tension/nerves.

I'm not even kidding - the next chapter finishes up this whole situation and then I'm on to bigger and better things! Like Remus and Tonks moments. And a potential lady friend for our favorite troublemaker named Sirius, and finally! A lady interested in our James! Yaaaaay. Openly interested and making passes... But is her name Lily? ;)

An update on Sheldon Junior 2 of the female variety: She's doing great. Alive and swimming and eating and pooping and boring. Will someone please remind me why I bought a fish again? I can't even play with her!


	10. When preparation fails

Alright. Let's finish all of this junk up, shall we? Petunia causes such a ruckus when she gets involved in things! Now! It's Saturday again. For that I am terribly sorry again... And I'm going to apologize in advance for next week, I may skip a week of posting. *Don't kill me!* I'm just really busy nowadays and I'm having trouble finding the time to write.

enjoy.

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There are always going to be moments in life when you realize that you could have responded better. You could have held your tongue or you could have spoken up. You could have allowed someone more room to be them or you could have stepped in and tried to lead them. You could have been calm and rational or you could have panicked. Lily Evans had been in situations like that all of her life. She had been thrown into a magical world and was forced to respond in a mature way. She had been favored by her parents and she had chosen to remain level-headed. She had been rejected and despised by her sister and she had decided not to let it affect the way she treated other people.

Lily Evans had been appointed prefect and then during her final year at Hogwarts, Head Girl, and she had chosen to stay relatable. She had been hurt and abandoned by her best friend, but she refused to allow that to keep her from enjoying her life. She had been harassed and mocked and made an outcast, all kinds of things had prepared her for reacting in a level-headed, kind, mature, understanding manner. She had been tried and tested on each of these reactions more times than she could count on her fingers and toes. So the fact that she froze during one of the most important times for her to be calm and collected, was both unexpected and unexplainable.

She stood on her front porch, swaying slightly from exhaustion. She had been standing there for over an hour staring at the road in front of her house. Specifically the place on her road that her sister had been parked at only an hour or so prior to that moment. Lily wasn't quite certain why she thought that anything involving the Marauders could go normally, but she had fooled herself into that mindset for no more than twenty minutes before everything started going downhill. She took a deep breath and thought back across the evening, wondering if she could have done something different to avoid the outcome she was living right now.

She could have kicked James and Sirius out the moment they walked through the door. She could have ignored Petunia's insistence that she was ashamed of someone and kicked all four of the boys out. She could have recognized that Sirius can't be trusted to be an adult and refused to let him touch the drinks. She could have given up on Petunia a long time ago. Luckily, she didn't have to choose because Petunia gave up on her. Petunia had stormed out the door and refused to listen to reason when she had been followed.

_James' eyes widened when he realized that he was still holding his wand. He wasn't used to spending time around Muggles and his wand felt like it was a part of him. It was such a normal occurrence to hold it in his hand that he hadn't even realized he still had it. His eyes immediately went in search of Lily's but she just stared at his hand. He touched her shoulder and tried to get her attention by calling her name softly, but she just stared in confusion at the long piece of mahogany. He looked up to see his three closest friends all staring at him helplessly._

_He stepped back from Lily and dropped his wand to the ground. He took a few quick puffs of air and then ran straight to the door, ignoring his churning stomach. "Petunia! Petunia, wait!" she hadn't closed the door in her haste to leave the house so James ran out the doorway and rushed down the four or five steps on Lily's porch. "Petunia," his voice sounded more like a warning than a pleading. He rushed across her lawn and stopped short right in front of Petunia's car. "Wait, wait, wait, please. Please, you have to just wait. You can't leave." he insisted desperately._

_"You- You're a- a-" she kept stuttering and gesturing with her hand. Her purse was swinging around from where she was still gripping it tightly in her hand. "You're a freak!" she finally squeaked out. "You're one of them. I- I thought I was having lunch with..." Petunia was breathing heavily and shaking in anger. She started her sentence over with a forced sense of ease. "I thought I was having lunch with normal people. What about the rest of them? Are they freaks too?" she demanded._

_"I get it, you're scared. I'm a wizard, but that doesn't change anything. I'm still a normal person. I eat and sleep and use the bloody loo just like everyone else." James was trying to reason with her, and while part of him knew that if Lily couldn't get through to her, he couldn't either, he couldn't stop himself from trying. Petunia stood completely still with her gaze on a spot about five inches to the left of James' head. "That's you sister in there. She has done so much over the years to get you to love her and if you leave right now, it'll ruin her. Please, don't go. You can't go." James had taken a small step forward and outstretched his hand a little._

_Petunia's eyes snapped to look at him. "Who are you?" she mocked. "You don't know me, you don't know Lily! You think she's worked hard over the years? Imagine fighting the nicest person on the planet for attention from your parents." It became clear to James that maybe Lily had been a little off in her assumptions that Petunia was mad about her abilities. He realized that Petunia was bitter about not being treated the same way as Lily and she was blaming magic. "Don't come running out here like you know anything about me. I don't _have_ to do anything. I'm leaving." There were tears lining her eyes as she unlocked her car door._

_"Please don't leave." he begged._

_"Why do you even care?" Petunia demanded loudly. "You're just her neighbor."_

_"Because I love her!" the admission seemed to shock both of them. James glanced at the front of Lily's house and internally thanked merlin for the fact that no one was standing there. "I love Lily and she loves you. I'm gonna be honest, you are the most self-centered, boring, controlling, uptight woman I have ever met in my entire life. But somehow, that sweet and patient woman inside adores you. So I'm trying here, if Lily loves you, I'll try to love you too. But if you leave right now," James ruffled his hair slightly and fought off a bitter laugh. "If you leave, it will break her. She needs you, she needs her sister." Petunia didn't move a muscle and she didn't respond to his insisting tone._

_"I don't have any siblings, but I do have three best friends that are like brothers to me. I'm really mad at one of them right now, more mad than I ever have been before. Because he did something he thought was funny and it jeroridized a relationship with someone dear to me. But if something were to happen to him, I would be at his bedside without a question. Somethings are out of our control, like someone pulling a prank or being accepted into a school for witchcraft and wizardry." Petunia flinched at his last few words. "But other things, we can control. Like how we respond to a prank, or how we respond to our sister having an ability that we don't."_

_"You don't know anything." Petunia spit out bitterly._

_"I know that Lily isn't the one to blame for what happened in there. I know it's not Lily's fault that she has magic. I know that Lily deserves better than how you're treating her. I _know_ that you're making a decision right now that will change your relationship with her for the rest of your lives. You're making the decision right now, so you better be sure that walking away and abandoning your sister _again_ is going to lead to what you want in the long run." Petunia shook her head and slid into her seat, slamming her car door shut. "Think about Vernon! If you marry him, won't you want Lily to be in your wedding?" he yelled, hoping that she would understand his words even though her windows were up._

_Petunia started her car and rolled the driver's side window down about half of an inch. She looked up to make eye contact with James. It was as if there wasn't a single other noise in the world when she spoke because he heard every single word. "_When_ I marry Vernon, I don't want any freaks at my wedding." She rolled her window back up and ignored the shock on his face, instead throwing her car into reverse and then pulling around him._

_After James had gone back inside, he realized that no one had moved. He wasn't sure exactly how long he had been outside with Petunia, but it hadn't been a short period of time. He gestured to his friends that they should leave and without hesitation they all gathered their wits and made to exit. Sirius rounded the corner of the table and stood in front of Lily._

_"Lily," he started. Remus was shocked by his tone, he hadn't heard Sirius speak with such remorse ever. "I am so terribly sorry."_

_She finally looked away from where James' hand had been and looked up to meet his eyes. There were tear streaks down her face and fresh tears forming in her eyes. She nodded her head lightly, and it seemed as though she was going to forgive him._

_Until she slapped him._

_Sirius stumbled backward, not from the force of the slap because it wasn't a powerful slap, but from shock. Lily stared up at him with an unreadable expression and then she walked away. She walked toward her front porch and out her still opened front door. She nodded her head when she saw that Petunia had in fact left, because she had expected it after all._

Lily's knees were trembling and had been for awhile, so she reached forward to grip the railing. The moment her hand made contact with it, she dropped her body to the ground and sat in a heap. The day had been exhausting. From the moment she wiped her hands on her pants to clear the evidence of nerves off of them after her phone call with Petunia, to the first insult thrown her way, to almost kissing James, to sitting on her porch. All of it was emotionally draining. This, she realized, was why she wanted to live as a muggle. Things were simpler. Damn James for moving in next door, he was ruining everything.

She had expected drama, she had expected chaos, she had expected hurt. But if there was anything she had learned from the day she had, it was that expecting something and being prepared for it, are two completely different things.

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Okay! There was my heart poured out for all to see. I hope you enjoyed it. :)


	11. A black?

Let's all give a round of applause to my beta (Summer) and my new favorite reader (dftbamda), both of which are super encouraging and interested in what I write! Yay! This would not be here without either of them.

I hope it satisfies all of you wants and needs... enjoy.

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Sirius laughed loudly as he held the door open for his friend. They were celebrating James' new house and the hopeful future he had planned for himself, and where was there a better place to go when celebrating than a place where firewhiskey was served? The Leaky Cauldron wasn't musky by any standards, but it was quite dark. Even in the middle of the day, the place seemed dreary. Grey walls and a grey floor gave it a prisonlike feel while the old picture frames crammed up onto the wall - no doubt magically, as there was no way they would all fit without it - and the wooden furniture made you feel as if you were sitting in a castle.

There was no chime at the door when they walked in, and the flow of business didn't halt or shift as they pushed their way over to one of the few free tables. There was one chair too few so Sirius snagged one from the table right next to theirs. To hell with the person who had been there before him, since they'd left it unattended. It took only a few minutes for a thin waitress to approach them inquiring after their order. "Welcome to The Leaky Cauldron, gentlemen. What can I do ya for?" When she finally settled her gaze on the four men waiting there patiently, she seemed to be distracted by one in particular.

"We'll all have a firewhiskey. Most likely several more across the evening," Remus stated helpfully when everyone else refused to. The waitress nodded her head but refused to take her eyes off of the dark haired man right behind Remus. They all just kind of sat for a moment or two waiting for her to turn and retrieve their drinks, but she seemed to be busy. Busy with Sirius. Sirius was having eye sex with the waitress while James and Peter stared back and forth at the two. "Thank you, Ms.?" He drew out his sentence in search of her name.

"Jordyn," Sirius whispered helpfully. "Thank you, doll."

She smiled at him and then bounced off to gather their order. "Who the hell was that?" James asked, kicking the bottom of Sirius' foot under the table.

"Jordyn," he repeated unhelpfully.

"Yeah, we heard that part. But you were just undressing her with your eyes. So, who is she?"

"She's Jordyn," he repeated. "The magical dream fairy, haven't you heard of her? She grants wishes to young wizards and warlocks as they pass through town." His facial features gave nothing away as to his sarcasm.

"This is the girl he's been showing up to see for the last few days. Apparently he could be easily confused with a drunkard with the amount of time he spends here now," Remus entered calmly.

James perked up with the newly uncovered information. "Well I'll be damned! She's cute," James complimented. "But she seems to be too nice for you... Too well kept and intelligent. Go for someone less likely to laugh in your face when she hears you're a Black," James teased.

"You're a Black?" A small voice questioned from beside them. None of the men had noticed her return. Jordyn quickly set down the four drinks and then, without making eye contact with Sirius, left the table promptly. Sirius grabbed his drink and swirled it around in his glass a few times before knocking it back down and getting up to follow the petite girl.

In his absence, Peter and Remus glared heavily at James. "What?" the man at fault questioned. "I was just kidding! How the hell was I supposed to know she'd actually be bothered by it /and/ that she was standing right behind me?"

A few tables down from where three of the Marauders sat, Sirius reached out and lightly grasped the waitress' wrist. She could easily have pulled out of his grip if she wanted to, but she just stopped moving. It was busy that night, so he released her arm and led her to the back door with his hand hovering over the small of her back. When they came to the deep gray block of metal, he reached his arm around to her right and twisted the knob to open it.

The cool night air pushed past her body and blew her scent back to where he inhaled it. She smelled like alcohol and vanilla and warmth. The last one didn't make much sense to him, but he didn't question it. "You're a Black." She repeated her previous words, though this time as a statement.

"Please help me to understand, I seem to be confused as to why that's bothered you," he stated calmly.

"The Blacks are a very well known and highly respected family in the wizarding world. They are a solely pure blood line as far back as anyone can track. Wealthy beyond belief. The only reason I can see for one of them to show up at all, let alone multiple times, to a place like this... The only logical reason for you to come here day after day and flirt with me, is because you want an easy conquest whose word would hold no weight if I were to try and spread rumors." She refused to make eye contact with him for the last several words.

"Let me clarify; you believe that I have taken a large amount of time out of my week to come here and sit by myself, simply because I wanted a one night stand?" His tone didn't seem to be overly angry or judgmental.

"Yes," she whispered.

"Well then, Jordyn, I don't believe you are the type of woman I am interested in being with. You see, I'm interested in someone who has all of the same qualities as you, your beauty included, but I want someone who would approach me with any concerns and then trust my word when I give it." He turned to head back inside, one hand in his pocket and the other reaching for the handle.

"Trust your word? What are you talking about?" she demanded.

"I may be a Black by name, but I am anything but what my parents expected of me. One of my best friends is poorer than the dirt under our feet, another is a coward and the third... He's unwilling to be honest with anyone, himself or the woman that holds his heart. And me? I am a grade A ass. I speak and act before I think. I take jokes too far. I'm unkind and a relentless flirt. All qualities that do not compliment the Black family name." The two of them stood silently for a moment or two, simply breathing in the the admission, before Sirius began speaking once more.

"But those same friends? One may be poor in money, but he is the most thoughtful and loyal man I know. He has found himself rich in kindness and until I met him, all I knew was wealth in tangible things. The coward? He's incredibly brilliant and when he feels confident in something, he steps up and becomes bravery at its finest, granted it's not often at all. He's taught me to be picky in my battles, because not everything is as worth it as it seems. My best friend, he's always been cocky, and with good reason, but he becomes incredibly meek when the woman he adores walks in. He tried baring his heart once before and we all watched it gets smashed. He's taught me that what you care for is worth fighting for, is worth waiting on and worth changing over." Sirius cleared his throat and shifted his feet uncomfortably. He hadn't ever been this solemn before.

"I may be an ass and incompetent in a lot of things, but I am in no way a /Black/. Because I have a heart. I love people not for what they can do for me, or out of fear of what they could do /to/ me, but because they're good people. I came here about a week ago to drown my sorrows, because my mother informed me that from that day forward she planned to alienate me from the family, she wanted me to be considered estranged. But I met you and I realized about fifteen minutes into the night that I didn't need alcohol, I didn't need sex - that certainly wasn't why I came back - but I needed a reminder. A reminder that there were other people in the world, outside of my best friends that were genuine and kind. You were my reminder."

He stepped to the side when he opened the door and offered for her to go first, but she shook her head lightly. "I don't feel comfortable leaving you out here alone. All I'm asking is for you to step inside, it would ease my concerns," he explained quietly.

"I'm sorry," she whispered. "I'm sorry that I judged you according to your last name. I'm sorry that I assumed that all you wanted out of me was sex. I'm sorry that your mother doesn't see the worth in you and I'm sorry that I hurt you," she confessed.

Sirius smiled tightly. "I'm tired, I think I'm going to head home, but I need for you to come inside first." His words seemed harmless at face value, but after what had just happened they both knew he was running.

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Personally, I love Sirius. How's everyone feeling about the fourth of July?! Good? Good! I'm excited. I love fireworks... The ooh ad ahhs of young ones spread out on blankets, completely mesmerized by the exploding colors in the sky... I never grew out of it. :) I hope you didn't either.


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